At the beginning of the pandemic, Illinois transitioned most of its court operations online. Now, two years later, advocates and lawmakers are calling for an end to virtual hearings in juvenile court.

State Rep. Will Guzzardi - D-Chicago - is the lead sponsor on a resolution urging the state supreme court to reinstate in-person hearings in juvenile court. He said virtual hearings create numerous barriers for kids and their attorneys.

"The findings and the research is pretty unequivocal," said Guzzardi, "that these virtual remote hearings just don't provide the same access to justice and they provide worse outcomes for young people."

The resolution would only ask the state Supreme Court to end virtual hearings for kids, not compel them. The measure acknowledges virtual hearings may be necessary in the future, as the pandemic ebbs and flows, but asks the state's high court to consider them a last resort.

Kristina Kersey - Senior Youth Defense Counsel with the Gault Center, a juvenile justice organization - said the virtual court system falsely assumes kids have equal access to stable internet and technology.

She explained that virtual hearings and meetings also can strain relationships between kids and the attorneys representing them in court.

"Building trust and rapport with young people is difficult in all situations as a defender," said Kersey. "But in these virtual realms they were having even greater difficulty."

A 2020 report by the Brennan Center for Justice suggests virtual court proceedings often lead to harsher sentences by judges.

In a series of six interviews the Juvenile Justice Initiative of Illinois conducted with kids in the juvenile justice system, all of the interviewees said they preferred in-person hearings and meetings over virtual alternatives.

Guzzardi said he's worried that, even as COVID-19 case rates creep toward their lowest point since last summer, many juvenile courts will continue using video hearings due to convenience.

"And that's what we're trying to avoid," said Guzzardi. "Because we understand that it's a tool that's necessary in an emergency, but there really is a lot lost in terms of access to justice."

The resolution passed out of the House's judiciary committee last week with a recommendation to adopt.

Young people who have run-ins with the juvenile justice system are more likely to end up in the adult system. The Michigan Task Force on Juvenile Justice Reform has approved a set of recommendations this week to change that.

The goals are to improve community safety, reduce disparities and improve outcomes. The recommendations range from expanding diversion programs and funding community-based alternatives to incarceration, to creating a statewide juvenile public defense system and increasing data collection to identify racial disparities, said Jason Smith, executive director of the Michigan Center for Youth Justice.

"We are extremely happy," he said, "that the recommendation to eliminate fines and fees - juvenile court fees that impose huge immense burdens on young people and families - that that was included in the recommendations and voted on unanimously, including by judges and prosecutors."

Smith noted that the task force was comprised of court administrators, judges, prosecutors and defense attorneys, advocates, and young people and their families. He said he hopes legislators will make these recommendations into law as soon as possible.

Other recommendations include creating an advisory board of young people and their families to guide changes in the future, as well as strengthening standards for probation and residential programs.

State Sen. Sylvia Santana, D-Detroit, said the goal is to keep young people in the juvenile-justice system from entering the adult system when they are old enough.

"I think whatever we can do as a legislative body to make sure that we are putting in the necessary tools and supports to redirect that behavior," she said, "but also redirect them towards a path forward, versus a proverbial cycle of being part of the criminal-justice system."

She said investing in youths while they are young will save Michigan money in the long run. One study shows keeping just one child from dropping out of school, using drugs and entering the system can save more than $2.5 million.

The start of the fall semester is just around the corner for Illinois students. As children return to class, one advocate is urging school administrators to consider alternatives to traditional disciplinary measures.

Michelle Day, founder and CEO of Nehemiah Trinity Rising, a nonprofit helping organizations build and implement restorative-justice practices, has worked extensively with schools in the Chicago area. She encouraged other school systems across the state to consider adopting restorative-justice approaches in lieu of traditional punitive discipline programs.

"And when you do that, then you can have a restorative environment that engenders the type of behaviors and type of results that improve not only the safety of the school but the education for the children," Day asserted.

Restorative justice can take many forms, but most commonly it is based on reconciliation and constructively addressing the harm one student may have caused another without resorting to traditional punishments, such as suspension or detention. The Chicago Public School system offers a free online restorative justice guide to help teachers and administrators apply the principle.

Day explained integrating restorative justice into schools should be a top-down, holistic process, and everyone from cafeteria workers to school administrators should understand how it works. She added school leaders should not feel discouraged if they do not see immediate results.

"It takes approximately three to five years to change a school environment," Day acknowledged. "But when you do, the results are astounding."

According to the National Education Policy Center, restorative-justice programs could help reduce racial disparities in school discipline. A 2021 study from the University of Pittsburgh revealed Black students were "grossly overrepresented in rates of school suspensions for minor disciplinary infractions."

Los Angeles County, the nation's most populous county, is revamping its approach to juvenile justice, launching a new Department of Youth Development, which will take a more supportive, less punitive approach.

The agency made its debut July 1, and aims to divert teens away from the justice system and toward social services.

Vincent Holmes, interim director of the Department, said more kids with low-level offenses will bypass the courts, incarceration and probation.

"Instead, you're going to be referred to a community-based organization that understands the dynamics and the culture of your community," Holmes explained. "That agency is going to engage with you and your family unit, to do an assessment and determine exactly what types of services you may need, what type of care plan needs to be created for you."

Youths may be offered counseling, or make amends via a restorative justice program. The county's previous diversion programs operated via a patchwork of agreements with local police agencies, serving just 700 youths last year, according to Holmes. But he pointed out about 85% of youth who are arrested in Los Angeles are accused of crimes making them eligible for diversion programs; about 6,500 a year as of 2018.

Holmes noted the first order of business is to expand the diversion program countywide. Part of the goal is to reduce the number of youths of color caught up in the juvenile justice system.

"We believe that's certainly one way that we'll be able to address the disparate, disproportionate representation that we see Black and brown young people in our justice system," Holmes contended.

A 2021 study from the Sentencing Project found Latino youth were 28% more likely than their white peers to be detained or committed to juvenile facilities, which is a big improvement over 2021, when Latino youths were incarcerated 80% more often than white youths.